Objective vs. Subjective Patient Satisfaction in Total Knee Replacement

When you hear industry-wide claims of success rates between 95%-98%, please understand that these are objective findings. Off-the-shelf knee replacements do very well when studied objectively. Many knees on the market today can accurately claim great longevity, range of motion, and stability. But when subjective findings are taken into account what you see is that patient-satisfaction drops to approximately 80%. Those that fall into the 80% of patients that are very happy would do the surgery all over again if they could go back in time. But what about the 1 out of 5 patients who feel very differently? The recipients of the off-the-shelf knee’s who fall into this dissatisfaction rate of 20% will state that their knee does not feel natural after receiving surgery. They may be pain-free, and their x-rays look fantastic, but they are not happy. These patients want more than just pain relief; they want to return to their activities of daily living as it was before receiving their total knee reconstruction. Unlike previous generations, baby boomers expect more from their knee replacements.

Recent improvements in off-the-shelf knee replacements have included computer navigation, more sizes, positioning tools and robotics. All this technology has not shown an improvement in anonymous patient-satisfaction surveys.

Activities such as going up and down stairs and climbing hills, sitting down and standing up can be bothersome. This is the result of compromises that must be made with any off-the-shelf knee replacement. Many healthcare providers believe that since the x-rays look good, then it must be the patient being unreasonable. This leads us to another common topic that is frequently spoken about at the various orthopedic conferences, and that is about how orthopedic surgeons must set realistic expectations to patients undergoing knee reconstruction to improve patient satisfaction. Conformis believes there is a better way and that is through eliminating many of the intra-operative compromises that must be made with traditional knee replacements. Conformis designs a customized knee implant that recreates the natural shape and articulating geometry of the patient’s knee.

Stay tuned for more information on the results of studies that show subjective and objective improvements when the patients receive a customized, individually made knee replacement by Conformis.

Custom-made Conformis knee replacement

Meet Patient Rihanna Ryer from Kirkland, Washington

Ms. Ryer received her custom-made Conformis left knee replacement at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, WA. Before opting to receive her new 3D printed knee her arthritis had progressed to the point of being bone on bone and was impacting her everyday life. Ms. Ryer was at the point of not being able to keep her leg in a bent position for long periods of time and decided she had had enough. Thanks to a referral from a friend who is a Physical Therapist she learned that customized knee replacements were now available and Conformis was the only company with this unique technological advancement. 

Now she is pain-free and able to go back to teaching twelve intense fitness classes per week! She says that Conformis has made her life easier and that the decision to go with the Conformis custom knee replacement was life-changing.

I am proud to consider myself part of the Conformis team and have made it a personal goal to spread the word to my local community in New York City and Westchester. Off the shelf, knee replacements are designed around averages. Do not settle for average when there is a customized alternative. Your knee has a unique shape and size so if you need a total knee reconstruction then why not get one that respects your anatomical uniqueness?

Dr. Jose Rodriguez Discusses Advantages of Conformis

Please watch the below video to hear world-renowned orthopedist Dr. Jose Rodriguez, who operates at The Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, discuss what he feels are some of the advantages of providing patients with a customized knee replacement that is only available through Conformis.

Dr. Rodriguez goes out of his way to say that surgeons and their patients do not have to deal with the number and frequency of compromises that are common with off-the-shelf knee replacements. The key takeaway for me, and this should ring true with many of us, is that with the Conformis iTotal we can more readily reproduce how a normal knee moves. 

If you live in the New York Metro area and are in need of a knee replacement, please spend the time to learn more about all of your options. Custom knee replacements have finally arrived. Do not settle for anything less than a knee replacement that has been individually designed for you and only you thanks to the advancements in 3D printing.

Pam's Story

Ms. Brooks achieved what many would consider the holy grail of knee replacement, the forgotten knee, three months after surgery. What this means is that she could not differentiate the knee which received the custom knee replacement from the non-operated knee. Listen to the video below to hear why Ms. Brooks considers choosing the Conformis iTotal to be the best decision of her life. 

If you are in the New York City metro area and would like to learn more about the only custom knee replacement in the world then please feel free to contact me or browse the list of orthopedic surgeons in the New York City area that offer this unique technology that Conformis has pioneered.

Why Conformis Implants Really Work: Study Shows 100% of Patients Achieve Mechanical Alignment with Conformis

Conformis, Inc. is a medical technology company that offers joint replacement implants designed and manufactured to fit each patient’s unique anatomy. Conformis is a groundbreaking medical technology that has changed the lives of countless patients and surgeons across the country. On the 14th of December 2017, The Journal of Knee Surgery, a peer-reviewed orthopedic journal, published a study about Conformis knee and joint replacement implants and their benefits. The study investigated the ability of the iTotal CR Knee Replacement System restoring coronal plane mechanical axis alignment in a patient’s leg.

Conformis iTotal Implant is designed to match each patient’s individual joint curves, based on their own unique anatomy. Each Conformis implant is accompanied with a detailed, patient-specific, pre-surgical iView plan for each individual case. Conformis CR Implant and iJig patient-specific cutting guides are designed to achieve neutral mechanical axis alignment.

The study, independently performed by Dr. Gary Levengood at Sports Medicine South in Lawrenceville, Georgia, examined 63 consecutive patients he operated on using the Conformis iTotal CR implant system and Conformis iJig patient-specific instrumentation. Results in each of the cases were verified using computer-assisted surgery (CAS). According to the study results, perfect neutral coronal mechanical alignment of 0° was achieved in 84% of patients, with the remaining 16% of patients within +/-2° of neutral. The patients had an average pre-operative deformity of 5.57° (range 12° valgus to 15°varus), and a post-operative average of 0.18° (range 0-2°) (p<0.0001). Additionally, while 40 of the 63 patients had pre-operative extension deficits (the inability to fully extend the leg), no patients had postoperative extension deficits.

Also according to the study, neutral mechanical limb alignment, or alignment within +/- 3°, has previously been linked to better survivorship in TKA, while poor alignment has been linked to higher rates of implant failure. This study’s findings are consistent with those of a previously published study by Ivie et.al. from the Journal of Arthroplasty in 2014, which concluded that the Conformis iTotal was 1.8 times more likely to achieve a neutral mechanical alignment as compared to standard off-the-shelf knee implants.

*Conformis did not provide any economic support for this study. Dr. Levengood previously has served as an advisor to Conformis.

At Empire Surgical Solutions, we take great pride in being the exclusive distributor of Conformis, as well as other brands in the orthopedic medical equipment space including TriMed fixation systems and NanoHealth USA. Conformis is an innovative, life-changing product that we are very proud to offer patients and surgeons around the United States. We at Empire Surgical Solutions believe that Conformis iTotal CR demonstrates superior clinical outcomes, including better overall functionality and even greater patient satisfaction, compared to the generic, off-the-shelf implants.

More about Conformis, Inc.

Conformis is a medical technology company that uses its proprietary iFit Image-to- Implant technology platform to develop, manufacture, and sell joint replacement implants that are individually sized and shaped, or customized, to fit each patient’s unique anatomy. Conformis offers a broad line of customized knee implants and pre-sterilized, single-use instruments delivered in a single package to the hospital.